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The Santa Clarita brush fire, blazing over 4,050 hectares, has shrouded L.A. county in a dull haze. The sun appears red, the bruised clouds are tinged pink. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that midday’s 32 C heat has now dropped by five degrees. Whether the cool break is helping the firefighters with their massive undertaking, I don’t know. I hope so.

The latest news from CBS states:

10% containment

1,500 home evacuated

1 structure destroyed.

These photos were taken near Santa Monica, located 53 kilometers south of Santa Clarita, at 4.30 in the afternoon. When I returned to the same spot an hour later, the red sun had disappeared.

The word “apocalypse” has been used so much today, it’s in danger of becoming a cliche.

While much of America tuned into the Republican debate last night, I was watching curiosities of a different kind at KURIOS – Cabinet des Curiosités created by the enigmatic Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil. This show may not tour as long as the run for presidency (it ends in Los Angeles on February 7, 2016 before visiting Atlanta, Boston, NY, and DC), but it is a wonderful way to get lost in theatrical alchemy: acrobatics, steam punk fashion, otherwordly creatures, and soaring vocals by the brilliant Greek singer, Erini Tornesaki.

As soon as you enter the Cirque’s big top tent, or the Grand Chapiteau, you give yourself over to Kurios‘ fantastical world of the late 19th century, an era of steam power and engineering that influenced a whole subgenre of science fiction (20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne, HG Wells’ Time Machine) and steam punk culture.

Our Kurios scientist is the inventor of a machine that transcends time and space. When the clock freezes at 11.11 — wishing hour — we’re introduced to the main characters in his cabinet of curiosities. There’s an accordion-shaped man; a telegraph named Klara in a hoop skirt that transmits messages; and Mr Microcosmos, the embodiment of the technological process, whose subconscious takes the form of a tiny lady named Mini Lili that lives in his boiler-as-potbelly.

I love Cirque for its contortionists, acrobats, and balancing acts, and in this show, they’re as amazing as ever. A quartet of bendy ladies dressed as sea creatures effortlessly twist into unreal poses atop a giant mechanical hand. Twin aerialists display muscular strength while arm balancing on a set of rings. Rebounding off of an Acro Net, artists jump, flip, and glide through the air like swimmers in the sea. And just when you thought you’d seen it all, a chair balance taking place at a dinner party is interrupted by a second party happening above, upside down, on the ceiling. Suddenly, two sets of chairs are being stacked towards each other from opposite directions. Teetering on the brink, they finally touch.

Perhaps the most unexpected act of the show is the finger puppetry, where one hand, costumed in sneakers and a baseball cap, dances to hip hop, swims, and performs skateboard moves on a mini theatre stage — all filmed with live video that’s projected onto a giant screen — before taking off in a hot air balloon. The act ends as a love story (there’s a second set of fingers involved) on top of an audience member’s head. It shouldn’t make sense, but it does – a perfect example of success in bizarre experimentation.

That’s the thing about Cirque du Soleil. It asks us to embrace the unexpected and stretch beyond our imaginations. I’m always compelled to write more, dream bigger, and read fiction after a show (I’m about to watch Oz the Great and Powerful actually). In Kurios, an invisible theatre act forces you to fill the void of the unseen characters whose presence is only made apparent by the consequences of their movements. Sound strange? It is, but it can be as crazy as you imagine it.

Other acts include the gripping Rola Bola that involves an aviator balancing atop a stack of tubes on a swing; a yo-yo extraordinaire (he lends a retro air); an aerial cyclist; and acrobats performing mesmerising synchronised sequences.

The whirlwind two-hour performance comes to an end when the Kurios clock flips to 11.12. As we filed out, I dared the performance to inhabit my dreams.

I can be annoying to travel with. I’m usually the first to shower and get dressed because I’m itching to go, walk, and explore.

But, when something slows me down, I’m probably also reaching for the camera.

This happened on a recent October morning in San Francisco, when the view from the hotel room pulled me away from the door. See the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, and Alcatraz? Now, imagine watching them rouse as the light changes from grey to pink to white.

Seeing San Francisco from this point of view gave me a whole new appreciation for the city. It also reminded me to stay in the moment.

We had a great time in Napa and Sonoma, and learned a lot that may be obvious to those in the know, but not to us. For example, why does Korbel use the word “champagne” on its bottles when it’s produced in the Russian River Valley, CA? Same goes for Sonoma’s “port”. And why is there a ban on weddings in Napa?

I’m sprawled on a deck chair on the Relaxation Deck of the Island Spa Catalina, blissed out after a hot stone spa treatment. Sipping champagne, I take in the spectacular ocean view. I don’t want to move. It’s about four in the afternoon, the sun will soon set, so I call my husband and coax him to laze with me (he’s at the hotel).

Our day began with a helicopter flight from Long Beach to Catalina Island, a 15-minute trip over the Pacific Ocean, which is currently filled with migrating whales. After landing, we drove to the Pavilion Hotel and woke up with coffee and oceanfront view — isn’t that the best way to instantly destress? By 10am, the sun had zapped the chill out oof the air. How different this winter feels to that of the East Coast. Up for some adventure, we hopped into golf cart – the standard mode of island transportation — and were chauffeured s to the zipline camp where, belted up and harnessed, I scaled heights and revealed my nervous side. By the fifth attempt, my fears had subsided and my body rushed with adrenaline.

Hours later, a “spa” lunch — Caesar salad with avocado dressing — brought me back to earth, as did the Sage Stone Purification Ritual, experienced in the spa’s luxurious two-storey Silver Peaks Suite. I kid you not, the suite was as big as a big-city condo, and I felt like royalty. I sneaked a snooze on the ground-level couch before heading out.

My husband has arrived, and the sun is setting behind us. The Carnival cruise ship anchored ahead of us is slowly losing its gleam. Over coffees and some snacks, we revel in the moment — we talk, laugh, share stories — until a chill beckons us away. But all is not lost: there’ll be wine and cheese in the hotel library, and California red trout, diver scallops, and chilled Rusack Sauvignon Blanc for dinner at the Avalon Grill. But first, we gather our things and recline by the hotel’s fire pit with a glass of red to continue basking in the moment.